Recent Sermons
Heroes of the Flannel Board
Delivered by Colleen Stuppy on July 17, 2011
Scripture
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
When Rev. Janice asked me if I would consider speaking today, I first wanted to know what the scripture readings were. So I looked up the Gospel reading and I thought, “Oh yeah, that’s a really good one – but I don’t feel like I have the theological background to do that one justice!”
I read the Romans passage – that too was good, but it still didn’t seem right.
But then I read the passage from Genesis. Well, Jacob and I go WAY back! To give you an idea, back in my early Sunday School days we had these things called Flannel Boards – and I’m NOT going to ask if anyone remembers those, because you all made me feel old the last time when no one remembered Sneakers – so I’m not asking anymore!!!
So anyway, these Flannel Boards – which I think were actually the early version of Velcro – were like bulletin boards covered with flannel material that rested on an easel. Then we had these Bible people and characters that had flannel on the back of them so they would stick to the flannel board. Then you could move them around on the flannel board or pair them with different people or animals – you know, the shepherds with the sheep, Joseph with Mary, Jesus with the disciples, and so on. And this is where I first met Jacob – right there on the flannel board – way back when….
Will you pray with me?
Loving God I ask that You might open our ears to hear Your Word today. Lord I know that you speak to us in ways that we each can understand, whether it be through flannel boards or power points, Your message is the same. Speak to us today Lord, for we ask in the name of Jesus, Amen.
So, what do you remember about Jacob?
Well, he’s a cheat, took advantage of his brother, he’s a deceiver, he lied to his father, and then, when his brother threatens to kill him, his own mother talks his father into sending him away to find a wife!
Sounds a little like King David – another flannel board hero! I can see this becoming a bestselling new series - “Heroes of the Flannel Board..”
This is where our scripture from this morning picks up the story.
So here is Jacob, basically running away from his brother, Esau– 60 miles into a 450 mile journey!
That is the equivalent of leaving here and going all the way to Columbus, Ohio – exactly 450 miles. So from here, Jacob would have gotten as far as the Hampton Inn at the Lebanon/Lancaster exit of the turnpike before stopping for the night.
It’s hard to imagine what thoughts and emotions were going through him as he decided to stop for the night. I would think he was tired –not only from the traveling, but also because he probably left in a hurry. He could be wondering when he will – if ever – see his family again.
But he’s tired, and he doesn’t have a sleeping bag, and he really isn’t staying at the Hampton Inn, so he takes a stone – or a big rock – and uses it for a pillow – see, he MUST have been tired to fall asleep with a rock for a pillow!!
I don’t see any of you guys going to “The Woods” and using a rock for a pillow….
As he sleeps, he dreams that there is a stairway, or a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven! As he watched, angels of God were going up and down on it! As he looked up, he could see that the Lord stood above it and he heard God say, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac.” God then goes on to tell Jacob that the land he is lying on shall be his, and that his descendents will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! And I’m pretty sure He meant dirt dust, and not the dust bunnies that I usually have in my room!
My current favorite translation of the Bible continues this way:
“What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15 NLT
Some translations say, “Behold”, but I think “What’s more” really grabs your attention! Not only am I giving you all this land, not only will your descendents be as numerous as the dust of the earth, WHAT’S MORE, I AM WITH YOU.
Now, I have had my share of dreams, but none as inspiring as Jacob’s dream! Well, actually, just last night I dreamed that I got to church this morning and Rev. Janice was here and this had all been a terrible nightmare!
I’ve learned that - In biblical times, waking up from a good night of sleep often alarmed people more than it helped them. If they had just had a vivid dream, like the one Jacob as just had, they would not have laughed about it as most people do today. Come on, I know you have had dreams like that – dreams that were so odd that all you could do was laugh about them if you even remembered them in the morning! But dreams in Bible times were highly respected and thought to be predictions or warnings of the future, or uncovering of the past.
Dream interpreters were always in demand, especially in the presence of kings and rulers. As long as their interpretations were accurate, they were given places of honor and prestige in the kingdom – as we shall later see with Jacob’s son Joseph – who, by the way is another of my “Heroes of the Flannel Board”….. But I digress.
How about you? What type of dreams do you have?
According to Random House Dictionary – yes I did it the old fashion way, we still have an actual dictionary! Anyway, according to Random House, there are a number of definitions for “dream”.
1. A succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep – probably the one most of us would think about.
2. An object seen in a dream.
3. An involuntary vision occurring to a person awake – this is a little scary!
4. A vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream – one of MY favorites!
5. An aspiration, goal; aim.
6. A wild or vain fancy.
And the list goes on!
Now, for all my friends who have left me behind and moved into the Technological Age, according to the REAL authority – Wikipedia – “Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.”
And I found a plethora of other information about dreams on the internet – enough to send you and I both, into a deep, dreamless sleep!
But the dreams that I would like to touch on today are the ones described by Random House as an aspiration, goal; aim.
We all have these kinds of dreams – right? We dream about that perfect job, or a big promotion… that new house… that sporty new car…
Some of us dream about meeting the perfect partner – and some of us are blessed enough to have even found one!
Some of us dream about having a family – or seeing our children married and happy.
Some dream about completing a college degree, writing a book, or running a marathon.
And some of us even dream about our favorite team winning another World Series!
But the point is, we are all FULL of dreams!
What about dreams for our church? Do you ever think about where you would like to see Imago Dei? Where we are going? What we could be doing? Who we could be reaching? I know one of my dreams is to see us having a missions outreach team. I’d like to see us send teams out, not just to Media or Delaware County, but to areas that have experienced disasters, like New Orleans or Joplin, Missouri.
What other dreams do you have? And I don’t mean the wild and crazy dreams that we all laugh about, but God-inspired dreams like Jacob’s ladder! Be praying for God to show you a vision for Imago Dei. Be open and receptive to God’s will and to God’s vision, for only then can we be sure that those “dreams” will be blessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
We are in a time of transition – sort of like Jacob was – only we aren’t running away from our past. How do we celebrate our past 10 years and look forward to our next 10?
I’m glad you asked that! On Saturday, August 20th, we are planning an event to kick off this transition, and to give everyone an opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas, and your DREAMS for Imago Dei. So please plan to join us. We are calling the event “Back to the Future”. So look for more information in the weeks to come! And please pray that as we move forward, we continually seek God’s inspiration and guidance.
So that is my plug – now back to Jacob – when he woke up his first thought was “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.” I’ll come back to that…
It also says he was afraid – we are all a little afraid as we approach this next phase in the life of our church. Some of us are afraid of change, we’re afraid of forgetting our past, some are afraid of growing. Some may even be afraid of getting lost in the shuffle.
Remember what God told Jacob in his dream?
“What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15 NLT
And the same is true for us! I have felt God’s arms wrapped around Imago Dei for the past year. And I am not the only one who has felt this way. When things didn’t seem to be going right, and it seemed like we would never have a pastor, I felt God was with us. Even when the weeks stretched on and Rev. Janice’s visa was delayed, I still felt that God had a purpose and a lesson for us to learn. In some cases the lesson was mine to learn, and there were lessons for some of you as well, but through it all, God has been with us – just as was promised!
And even though he was afraid, and even though he was not the greatest role model, Jacob said it best:
“This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
“Afterwards, he named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”).
We are Imago Dei, and this is our Bethel. This is our House of God, our gate of Heaven.
If any of you are worshipping with us for the first time, may you leave here saying “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
And for those of us who call Imago Dei home, may we say that the Lord is in this place and we have ALWAYS known it!
Let us pray: Our loving God, help us to dream Your dreams for Imago Dei. Show us the way, give us the energy, courage, and faith to make Your dreams a reality. In Your many names we pray. Amen.
Choosing a Path
Delivered by Reverend Zoe Jeffery on July 10, 2011
Scripture
Genesis 25:19-34
Romans 8:1-11
I’d like to start by reading a quote from the movie “The Adjustment Bureau”. I’ve adapted this quote a tiny bit:
“Most people live life on the path that has been set for them. Too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while some people come along and knock down all the obstacles that have been put in their way. People who realize free will is a gift: People will never know how to use this gift of free will until you learn to fight for it. I think that's the real plan. And maybe, one day, this plan won’t be dictated by circumstances, but the plan will be written by you.”
One of the stories in today’s reading is about sibling rivalry; sibling rivalry between twin brothers in the midst of a culture where the oldest male child would inherit the birthright.
In this case, the oldest child, Esau, (also known as “Red”) was born maybe less than minutes before the youngest child, Jacob, was born. Esau was a hunter. I imagine he was very strong, especially as he had to throw spears or pull those bows back to shoot arrows at the animals he hunted; yet he was stealthy: he had to be quick on his feet, or else he would not have been a successful hunter.
I imagine he hunted alone; that he was a pretty simple guy; sure – he was the oldest, and he would get everything from his dad. This was an honor, but it came with a lot of responsibility - y’know - when that time came. He’d have to take care of everything and everyone; his mother and his brother too. Esau would rather have the simple life; no huge responsibilities other than providing the food for his family, and this could be a full-time job.
I imagine him with a ruddy complexion; having gotten used to the hot sun beating down on him as he was outside most of the time. I’m gonna take some artistic liberty and say that I think he had red hair too; very fitting for a guy nicknamed “Red”. All he wanted when he came home from hunting that evening was a meal. He brought home the food they would eat for another day, and it had become Jacob’s job to prepare it.
Now we look at Esau’s brother. Jacob was born probably less than a few minutes later – he had grabbed onto Esau’s heel as they were being born. Being the younger son, albeit by minutes, he knew his dad, Isaac, would favor his brother.
Hanging around the tents all day, he got used to working with the women, becoming his mom’s favorite; he prepared the food that Esau had killed, along with crops. He’d spend the days gathering herbs and some vegetables from the land outside the tents. Jacob wasn’t as tanned as his brother, as he typically wasn’t outside most of the day; he wasn’t as strong, but he had a quick mind.
Both brothers fell into their roles quite naturally: both were living lives on paths that had already been set for them – Esau: the oldest son, the hunter and gatherer, to inherit everything when his father died, and Jacob was seemingly happy to plod along in the role of servant.
Then on this particular day, Esau came home hungry and tired. He wanted food; Jacob had this delicious red stew cooking – Esau could smell it from a distance, and his mouth started to water and his stomach was growling as he approached the tent. Yet as Esau approached the tent, Jacob was thinking. Maybe he thought “why am I always second best to him – sure – he brings the food in, but it is me that prepares it. If it was up to him, we’d probably be eating his kill raw…I’m by far smarter than him, yet he gets all of dad’s attention.”
Jacob knew what he wanted. And, even though his actions were pretty sinister, he knew just how to convince Esau to give him Esau’s birthright. And it turned out to be easier than Jacob had thought: Esau was willing to give up his entitlement for a bowl of Jacob’s stew. And this became the story of how Jacob got Esau to promise Esau’s birthright to Jacob; thus changing a seemingly predetermined future for both men.
“Most people live life on the path that has been set for them. Too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while some people come along and knock down all the obstacles that have been put in their way. People who realize free will is a gift: People will never know how to use this gift of free will until you learn to fight for it. I think that's the real plan. And maybe, one day, this plan won’t be dictated by circumstances, but the plan will be written by you.”
So both Jacob and Esau had been on paths that both society and their culture had set for them. Both men were stuck in a plan that they saw had already been laid out for them, yet due to Jacob’s – albeit manipulative – actions, the plan was to change, and both Jacob and Esau had to step outside of their seemingly predetermined lives.
Have you ever been in a position where you felt your life was being dictated by society or circumstances? Where, despite the knowledge that we all have free will, it seems someone else is dictating the path you’re on, or that we’re put in positions where we need to make a difficult choice: Esau’s choice was to sell out his birthright for a bowl of stew; ours may be to stay in a so-so job rather than pursuing that more burning desire we may have in our hearts – staying safe -vs- taking the risk to explore a different path.
That’s just one example of many where we are put in a position to make a choice: sometimes that choice may be to speak up instead of staying silent about something, or to defend someone. It may be about making a decision to move – whether across the State, across the country or across the ocean.
Whatever the choices we’re faced with are, when we are faced with a choice that could so critically impact us, what is our response? Even when circumstances are frustrating to us, like they were for Esau as he felt manipulated by Jacob, how we respond – what we choose to do or say - may be critical to our life journey.
As we look at the Romans reading, verse 5 states that “Those who live according to the flesh have their mind set on what the flesh desires.” Relating this back to the Genesis reading, both brothers were willing to sell themselves out in order to satisfy themselves – Esau wanted food, and was quick to give up his birthright; Jacob coveted Esau’s birthright and was willing to sell-out any integrity he had to get it.
So, when it comes to these crucial choices, what would WE be willing to give up – what would we be willing to sacrifice – in order to get something that is important to us?
Would we be willing to risk our relationship with the person who may be putting us in that difficult circumstance? This may be easy if it’s a total stranger who we may never see again, such as a protestor at Pride who we can walk away from; but this may be more difficult if it’s a close friend, family member, or a boss who is asking us to put our integrity aside, or do something we think is dishonest.
As we look at the Romans reading now, we note that there was One who WAS willing to risk relationship: One who had seen that, despite laws and attempts to be in relationship with us, the path that had been set needed changing, for the sake of ALL humankind.
God risked relationship; risked everything when God took on human form in the incarnation of God’s son, Jesus. Jesus gave up the perfect heavenly kin-dom in order to live a messy, human life. For the first time, this divine human known as Jesus – 100% God and 100% human – knew what it was like to fully live as a human being. Yet even Jesus wasn’t perfect in the eyes of the Law: he frequently violated laws designed to bring humans closer to God for the sake of relationship with people, especially outcasts and people who truly needed God’s help. He healed on the Sabbath; he defended his disciples for eating on the fast days; he defended a woman caught in adultery and he was eventually prosecuted and killed for blasphemy.
Jesus experienced many crucial choices on his time here on earth: he was tempted – from food, like Esau, to power – he even had a choice as to whether he would escape before the Romans captured him or whether he would go to the cross.
Through God’s son Jesus, God WAS willing to risk everything; God WAS willing to sacrifice, for the sake of relationship, with us – so that all humankind could be brought completely into relationship with God.
So, when we’re faced with crucial decisions; choices that may impact our life journey – the current path that we’re on; when we make a decision that may cause us to have to battle against many obstacles that have been put in our way, please remember that what you choose may be crucial, but that you are not alone.
When we are faced with crucial decisions, bring them to God, for, as Hebrews 4 says, we do not worship a God who is unable to empathize with us, but we have one who has been tempted in every way – just as we are – yet Jesus did not give in to these temptations.
When we are faced with crucial decisions, pray; seek support from community; you are not alone – and even if you are on your own, know that God is with you, and that, through Jesus Christ, God really does “get” you and your situation.
It is my hope that each of us seeks to live life in curiosity of the other paths that may be around us; discerning wisdom from God as to what crucial choices we may make that may set us on a different road, and that we will always trust that, even when circumstances may not be dictating what we may see as the best path for us, that God is still there with us, and that with God’s help, nothing is impossible.
Grace
A reflection delivered by Diane Pierce on 10/24/2010
In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey recounts the story of a prostitute in Chicago who came to a friend of his whose job it was to work with the marginalized of that city. He said:
“A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter – two years old! – to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable – I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman.
“At last, I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naïve shock that crossed her face. ‘Church!’ she cried. ‘Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.’”
Henri Nouwen, in the October 20th devotional entitled Superabundant Grace, writes: “Over the centuries the Church has done enough to make any critical person want to leave it. Its history of violent crusades, pogroms, power struggles, oppression, excommunications, executions, manipulation of people and ideas, and constantly recurring divisions is there for everyone to see and be appalled by.
Henri continues… “Can we believe that this is the same Church that carries in its center the Word of God and the sacraments of God's healing love? Can we trust that in the midst of all its human brokenness the Church presents the broken body of Christ to the world as food for eternal life? Can we acknowledge that where sin is abundant grace is superabundant, and that where promises are broken over and again God's promise stands unshaken? To believe is to answer yes to these questions.”
How about it, Imago Dei? Are we practicing super abundant grace toward each other and toward a world that needs to hear about God’s unconditional love – and our unconditional love for each other?
Will you pray with me?
God of ultimate Grace, ultimate sacrifice, ultimate love and ultimate forgiveness: We are your church. We are to be your mirror image. We are the image of God, the Imago Dei. We are to have these same praiseworthy characteristics of sacrifice, love, forgiveness, and grace – toward each other, and to a world that needs to hear words of love. Instead, we here stories of your marginalized children who instead of running to the church for help like they did to Jesus, say that church would only make them feel worse.
Oh, dear God, we have people right here in this church that, instead of making each other feel better, have made each other feel worse. We practice ungrace when we should be the Image of God – practicing ultimate grace – Superabundant grace – even as you have given us your ultimate grace through Jesus Christ, our savior.
I pray for grace as I deliver this very hard to hear message today. I pray for those who hear it to practice grace toward me as they receive it. For it is the message that you have laid on my heart to your church, these very much loved ones – your children – that you love unconditionally. May grace be learned again and lived today as we remember your grace, and recognize our opportunities to be grace to each other. Amen.
When I saw Henri Nouwen’s devotional Wednesday morning, I knew God was nudging me on. I was having doubts about preaching on grace this morning until God confirmed to me this was to be my message.
But before I get too far along, I want to apologize to all of you because I should be out there with you hearing this sermon. I’m one of the most ungracious people I know. I fail to be grace to others, and I believe that this sermon will be perceived as me being further ungraceful. I recognize that God has gracious people in this congregation who would be better suited to give this sermon. But since I volunteered to preach today, and because I truthfully believe that God has given this word to me today, to bring to all of us, you and I are stuck with me. Believe me, I’m out there with you this morning, because I need to hear this message more than any one of you. You all have an opportunity to practice grace right now – will you please forgive me? Thank you.
That said… do we even know what grace is? What do we think it means? To many of us who’ve been church goers our whole lives, Grace means God’s unmerited favor. That is too simple, so let’s go a step further. To many of us, grace is the forgiveness we received back before we knew there was a God who loved us. Grace is God’s unconditional love for us. Grace is complete forgiveness with no expectation that we could or should repay God’s kindness toward us.
How does that sound? Am I close to what you think Grace is? What else is grace to you?
So many of us are eternally grateful for God’s forgiveness, mercy and love that we all breath a sigh of relief knowing that heaven awaits us by the Grace of God. However, we’re so caught up in the long term assurance of heaven that we forget the short term grace that we owe ourselves and each other.
What am I talking about? There are two graces at work in the church. One is what Chuck Swindall calls vertical grace: God’s ultimate sacrifice of love for us in sending Jesus to die in our place so that we could receive God’s grace work of redemption and the forgiveness of sin, and the eternal love and life of God in each of us. We want that! We want to know that we’re all bound for heaven – do not pass go, do not pay a cent to enter – all is forgiven and all is paid! We want that! We need vertical grace! And we recognize that work of Christ on our behalf!
But too many of us stop there! We will receive grace from God but we will not give it to others. Chuck calls giving grace to each other horizontal grace. Here are several well known scenarios from right here in this church.
Scenario 1: I left that church because my partner and I broke up and he or she still goes there. An alternate scenario is: they both leave the church.
Scenario 2: That person said something that offended me. An alternative is, that person offended me by not saying anything to me! So rather than bring it to their attention, I’ll just never come back.
Peter asked Jesus how many times he was to forgive someone – “seven times,” he asked? Jesus said, 7 times 70, but many of us never get past the first time.
Scenario 3: Someone said something to me that was offensive, and I called them on it. Rather than apologize, they just left the church! An alternate is, “I’m offended by what they did or didn’t say or do – and I called them on it. But I didn’t get satisfaction, so I’ll leave the church rather than give grace and love unconditionally.
Scenario 4: The pastor expected me to do something I promised to do, and I found out I couldn’t do it! Rather that admit I couldn’t and be embarrassed about it, I just left the church.
Scenario 5: That person and I get on each other’s nerves so bad – our personality’s clash and they know it as much as I do – thank God they finally left the church!
Scenario 6: I will grudgingly accept an apology after I’ve made my brother or sister suffer long enough. We demand payment in suffering. We want to make that person aware that they hurt us even if they haven’t a clue what they did. That isn’t grace; that is ungrace.
Scenario 7: That pastor doesn’t know what he or she is doing! They offend me or someone else almost every Sunday! I know. I’ll talk to so and so about it and try to stir up others on my side so that he or she will resign.
Scenario 8: Those people are trying to drive out the pastor that I love! How dare they! I’ll do what I can to get the board on my side to get those people excommunicated from my church.
Scenario 9: I will give to God’s church a pittance to keep the doors open. I’ll even give to the poor. But give grace to a brother or sister? Only when they come to me first acknowledging the wrong they did to me.
Scenario 10: I’m pissed because the pastor has changed the way the seats are arranged again. Every church I’ve ever been in has the pews arranged across with an aisle down the middle! They want to make this building a den of iniquity! I’ll go talk to the board about it.
Scenario 11: I work my tail off in this church and nobody ever recognizes me for my efforts! I fill in when and where I’m needed all the time. I even scrub the toilets that no one else will touch and take out the trash.
Scenario 12: This scenario is blank so that you can insert your own story of ungrace if you have one. Maybe scenario 12 is the one where Diane preaches a sermon on grace and offends everyone, and they basically disown her, excommunicate her, and never ask her to preach another sermon – ever.
Rev. Karla started this church 10 years ago. Shelly and I started attending a few months later. In the years since, we’ve seen good people come and go – many angry, or disheartened and discouraged. Some were distracted, or disillusioned because of things that happened in this church. And for the longest time I thought it was Rev. Karla’s fault. (Yes, I was practicing ungrace!) I was convinced that she was alienating people. I should know – she was blunt with me on more than one occasion.
And though I feel she had her share of ungrace towards some, I know now that it was the general feeling and practice of ungrace by all, which drove people away from our church – and the practice continues today. Those who drove them away were unwilling to accept their part in ungrace. Those who departed were unable or unwilling to accept their part in ungrace. Everyone is responsible to be grace to everyone else – even, and especially when someone is being ungracious to us first!
Philip Yancey relates a column by Erma Bombeck of a child in church whose only crime was turning around in the pew and smiling at the people behind him. He wasn’t misbehaving. He wasn’t being noisy. He was just being happy and sharing his happiness with those around him- he was practicing grace! His mother turned the little boy around and hissed at him, “Stop that grinning! We’re in church!” and gave him a smack, which started him crying. Erma says that as the tears streaked down the little boy’s face, the satisfied mother exclaimed, “That’s better.”
Is that the way we are, Imago Dei? Are we so set on pious unhappiness that ungrace naturally follows? Have we carried the burden of the churches of our childhoods with us into this church? Are we so unhappy – is ungrace so ingrained – that misery is the only way we achieve happiness? Here’s my challenge to you: Are we incapable of unlearning ungrace and relearning God’s grace toward others? That would make us truly happy.
I’m not trying to smack anyone or make them cry. Really, I want people to smile and be truly happy here – everyone. I believe grace will release us from ungrace – once we start to forgive and love each other unconditionally. Grace comes when we love before we receive an apology –if we ever receive an apology! Grace comes when we cherish people even when they practice ungrace toward us.
Imago Dei, we are God’s spiritual children – at different places in our spiritual growth at different places in our spiritual grace – at different points in our spiritual journeys. We have to let go of the grudges and refuse to take hold of any new grudges. Since we’re all God’s kids, it’s up to God to smack us, and not we ourselves! Let’s stop hurting each other.
I’ve heard stories of joy in this church. I’ve seen them and I’ve lived these stories. I’ve heard stories told of tears shed at hearing the good news of God’s grace to God’s Gay children, Lesbian children, Transgender and Bi-sexual children, and God’s straight children who support us. They find God here! They find Love here, people! They find God’s unconditional grace here. You’ve all had a part in giving God’s grace to others. That is good news!
So I know that Imago Dei is not devoid of grace. Grace is here – in us. We have the Spirit of God in our midst, and in our hearts. God’s Word, Jesus Christ is here with us. God wants the very best of forgiveness, love, and our repentance from ungrace. Let us relearn grace, and allow unconditional love to reign in our hearts and in our dealing with each other once more.
Jesus never once used the word grace while on earth, but in every parable or teaching moment, he taught grace! Did you catch that? Jesus never talked about grace. He chose instead to live it. The church talks a lot about grace but we don’t live it very well.
The disciples came to Jesus in the 18th chapter of Matthew, asking, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and had the child stand there, smiling right there in the middle of the disciples. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Paul wrote to the Romans: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends… On the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If she is thirsty, give her something to drink.” Give. Forgive. Love unconditionally. God is calling us to be grace to each other and to an ungraceful world.
Brothers and sisters, be like the little child who smiled at the people behind him in church. Don’t be like the mom who made him cry. Grumpy moms and tearful children don’t make a good church – happy, smiling children do. And smiles make other children happy, too. That’s what we as a church are to be giving away. If we smile… if we forgive… if we humble ourselves and become grace to each other, then we will be like that little boy who smiled at the people in the pews behind him, and the child Jesus placed before the disciples as a living example of grace. We can’t keep smacking each other, which makes our family members cry, or worse, leave the church – or worse yet, we leave the church without ever allowing closure to heal our wounds.
There are two ways to present yourself to God this morning. You can be the self absorbed Pharisee, certain that you are doing everything right, that no one bears a grudge against you rightfully or wrongfully, and that you are right to bear any grudges you may be harboring. Or you can go to God or to your neighbor aware that we are all sinners saved by grace and ask for forgiveness – or express a hurt, confident in Christ and knowing that if God has forgiven you and I this morning for all we’ve ever done, then we can and should do the same for our brothers and sisters.
We can be like the self-righteous Pharisee, and be ungrace to each other. Or we can choose to be grace to one another, understanding that God’s righteousness is sufficient for us. If we love one another – if we are grace to each other – then we won’t be sinning against each other.
What is grace? Unmerited favor. Grace forgives without being asked for forgiveness. Grace loves, gives, forgives, and cares unconditionally. Grace holds no grudge. Grace repents of ungrace. Grace exercises the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Grace does not have to be right. Grace stays, whether or not the situation is resolved.
One final reminder: the world is watching us this morning. People on the fringes, like the prostitute, are watching. New people to our church are watching. People from other churches – people of other religions are watching. Will we be grace to each other? Will we be God’s perfected example of grace to the world? Help me answer that in the affirmative. Amen.
See this cross on the wall behind me? A few of us wanted to take it down one evening so that we could have a secular event of fun and entertainment without something to distract the performers. They would have had a stage with a blank wall.
Some of us thought it was a good idea. A few thought it was a bad idea. We took a vote, and the cross came down.
Some on the dissenting side, who lost the vote, felt it their right to complain at the next board meeting. They stated their case. I am ashamed to say that in my ungrace I argued against rehanging the cross because it wouldn’t or shouldn’t make a difference – people would tell we were Christians by our love – right?
When the woman who organized the open mic night found out – this is the same person who took the vote and had the cross taken down – when she found out, by grace she insisted that the cross be put back up because some were offended by that action – and she didn’t want to be ungrace to anyone. She insisted, and the cross was put back up. But in the process, she said that this was the last straw. She wasn’t coming back to Imago Dei. She might visit, but she wanted nothing further to do with organized religion – imago dei is practicing organized and ungraceful religion.
The only person in that whole episode to practice grace and not some form of holier than thou ungrace or religious piety was that one woman. And she isn’t here – not because she did something wrong. She admitted that the needs of others were greater than her own – that’s grace. She isn’t here – not because it was more important to her to be right and that someone else be wrong – to her, it was more important that the feelings and needs of others be honored. She isn’t here because we haven’t had the grace to apologize to her and humbly ask her to come back.
They say that it says in the bible that pride goeth before the fall, but what isn’t said in so many words is that often the ones to fall are the innocent – not the guilty. We have an opportunity to unlearn ungrace, and relearn amazing grace. Please, do some research. Read a book on grace. I recommend the one I quoted from: What’s So Amazing About Grace? By Philip Yancey. Then let’s talk about grace. We can study grace together and grow spiritually because of it. Together, let’s never again drive a child of God away from IDMCC.
Resources and Adversity
Scripture Psalm 79:1-9 Luke 16:1-13
A reflection by Kym Gamble
Good morning. Boy. That Psalm reading was tough. And I don’t know how much of the Gospel reading you caught but I bet you might be thinking I’m going to talk today about trying to serve God and Money. I thought about it but we’ve heard a few of those messages here. So today, I’m going to take a different route. I hope you’ll get something out of the journey. Will you pray with me?
Lord, God, my strength in all things, be with us here today as I attempt to shine a light on your word. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you always. Amen.
So, in our Gospel reading, today we have this Landowner (or Master) who has a person Managing his property and he’s really doing a very bad job. We don’t know if it’s on purpose (like he’s ripping him off) or if he’s just incompetent. We do know however that the Landowner has seen enough and has said, ‘You’re out of here’. That’s a big deal in that culture in those times because this person would have been almost like family. It would have been like the landowner throwing out his brother or another family member. He wouldn’t want to do it.
However, the Manager, he’s quite a resourceful guy and he says to himself, “how am I going to make it without this relationship to the Master or this job to take care of me?” And he starts working his contacts (the people who owe his Master money) and starts making them some good deals on what they owe to his Master (the land owner). Hey, what do you owe the big guy? 100 jugs of Olive Oil… make it 50. This way, when he needs these people, he’ll be in their good graces.
The Master (Landowner) gets hip to it and calls him on it but to our surprise he says, hey… You’re a ingenious guy. He was impressed that the guy could take a look at where he was and find the best way to take care of himself. He does however tell him he should be doing these things for good, not for bad but he commends him nonetheless.
Now I don’t know about you but remembering this is a parable that Jesus taught I was scratching my head going… why is Jesus telling something where someone is being praised for being dishonest.
Then it hit me…. The lesson doesn’t lie there… it lies in the fact that the Manager was resourceful. It lies in line that says: I want you to be the same way but for what is right, using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the essentials, so that you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior…. That’s where the lesson is.
We are to be resourceful for the God. We’re not to sit on our Blessed Assurance and do nothing or just get by being good.. We’re to do everything we can with the resources we have in the good and in the not so good, to glorify God.
That reminds me of a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that says, “Do what you can with what you have, where you are”.
There are so many resources we have individually and as a community. Here’s a list I just came up with as I prepared this message:
Time, Education/training, talents/abilities, praise & prayer, health, families, relationships, intellectual capacity, words (speech), experiences, character, possessions, money, assets, the Word of God, the Spirit of God,
How do you do with “doing what we can with what we have, where we are?” Do you consider your resources with God in mind? How do you lift up God and community through your own resources?
Did you catch all of those? I tried to read them fairly slow but there was quite a list. I know personally, as I was writing down all of the different resources I had no idea there were so many. I only thought of time/talents/treasures. Speaking of treasures, I saw a figure recently that blew me away. Did you know the average American’s entertainment spending is somewhere around $2698 a year (which is down due to our down economy). The average annual per-capita income for Afghanistan is $466. Talk about giving me some perspective. Wow. Kinda makes me think about this talk about MY resources even differently.
So, when I start looking at things like experience being a resource… the possibilities expand exponentially. Yes, it has to be combined with the resource of time to be used in any real sense but imagine any of our experiences individually (or collectively) and how they could support the mission and ministry of our little church. Whether you play an instrument, (that’s an easy grab for me) or if you have experience writing grants or you know people who do who’d be willing to help us or you’re really good at fundraising or … the list goes on and on. We could brainstorm forever on these resources. Literally.
How are we, Imago Dei doing with what the Master was talking about “using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the essentials”? I think we are doing it well in some places. For example: It’s been over 2 months since our founding pastor left and here we are Worshiping our God together same time, same sandbox. Have we had some bumps in the road? Absolutely! Are we using our resources in a creative and positive way to glorify God and to reach God’s people. Yep. You have seen guest preachers up here providing stirring sermons. You’ve seen members of our congregation giving messages and beginning next week you’ll be treated to an exciting new sermon series that was brought forth as an idea from one of our members, again… using their resources in a positive way to lift up our community.
And if you were at the spaghetti dinner you know that we not only had a blast but we were reaching out to the community and raising money and ministering to people all at the same time. If we can do it once, we can do it again and again and other things like it. We’re a resourceful bunch. This I believe. This I know.
We have room to continue to grow and learn from this parable personally and as a community as we move towards our Interim pastor joining us. As we continue to meditate and pray on these things, we can only get better.
This is only one time in the Bible we see an example of resourcefulness. The examples are endless. I believe Jesus wants us to know and remember that he gave us the gift of resourcefulness to continue to be his hands and feet while on this earth. From the people who lowered the paralyzed man through the roof in to see Jesus to the woman who got close enough to touch the hem of Jesus’s garment we are told time and time again if we are resourceful and we have faith, we will see the things we need to happen.
But we cannot sit there like good little Christians and wait for them to happen. We have to get up and use the resources God has given us. We have to love this little church and the people who we are meant to minister to enough to do the exploration of what resources and needs we have so that we can “use every adversity to stimulate US to creative survival, to concentrate OUR attention on the essentials”. Are YOU willing? Do WE have what it takes for the long haul? We’ve made a good start. Let’s keep it going.
Will you pray with me?
Holy one, you have given us this parable to meditate on that is perfect for where we our in our lives today and in the life of our little church. May we reflect through the week on what resources we have that we can bring forward to this church that we might either not realize or that we might not yet hear your calling us to bring forward. Help us to hear your call and to hear the need and allow us to do all for your glory. In the name of the one who is our redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.
As we move into the song of response, think about the words of the song as you sing~ we cannot escape hard times or adversity in life but if we believe and are resourceful we can always be assured to be raised up by God knowing, that we are doing what God would have us do.
Tearing Down Walls
Building Up Hope
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